


Care

by Rina_san28



Series: Domesticity [2]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cooking, Domesticity, M/M, Mentioned Aragorn, Mentioned Arwen, Mentioned Dori - Freeform, Mentioned Gimizh from Sansûkh, brief mention of injury but no description, it's cute tho, this is really just domestic-y fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 05:52:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6183025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rina_san28/pseuds/Rina_san28
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gimli's had a hard day at work and just wants to go home. Legolas just wants him to feel better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Care

**Author's Note:**

> I just really love these two kids and want them to be happy. I got the idea of Gimli's family being jewelers in the modern era from the Finding Dwarves series and little Gimizh from Sansûkh. I didn't actually intend for it to be as long as it is, nor did I intend to make a series out of The Air Mattress. Ah well. Enjoy!

Gimli sighed deeply as he trudged down the hallway to the apartment he shared with his boyfriend. It had been a very long day at the family store, and he was beyond ready to go home. What he needed was a hug and a long nap. Maybe two hugs. Or twelve. 

He groaned with relief as he slid the key into the lock and practically fell through the front door. "Legolas?"

"Sofa!" 

He followed Legolas's disembodied voice to the tiny sitting room just off of the entryway. The blond was sprawled on the sofa, sketchbook in hand and pencils strewn across the floor next to him. When he looked up at Gimli, his smile softened and he reached out, silently inviting the other man to join him. 

Gimli toed off his shoes - it was house rules to not wear them inside - and flopped on top of Legolas, who wasted no time in gently working Gimli's course hair out of its bun and working his fingers through it. The motion was soothing, and soon Gimli could feel himself relaxing as the day's stress melted away under his boyfriend's touch. 

"So work was rough then?" Legolas sounded faintly amused. Although, Gimli admitted, it would be rather amusing to see your giant, tattooed partner curl up into you after a day's work at a jewelry store of all places. 

"Someone thought it was a good idea t' bring in their toddler and let 'em roam unsupervised," he said, wincing at the memory. "The littleun knocked over the birthstone display - y'know, the glass-covered one by th' counter? Glass shards everywhere. The lad's fine, just got a bit o' a fright."

Legolas frowned. "Didn't he have a leash? Your nephew, he has one."

"Some folks think it's 'inhumane' t' do that," he said. "My sister is one o' th' smart ones that knows it's a safety measure. For both the kid and the world." Legolas snorted, clearly remembering the mess that little Gimizh had made the first time he'd come over to their apartment. They were still finding Cheerios in increasingly weird places. 

"Are you alright?" The blond, not waiting for an answer, reached down and grabbed Gimli's hands, inspecting them for any signs of injury. He clucked his tongue disapprovingly as he discovered a long cut at the base of Gimli's thumb. "You need to clean this out."

"I need t' sleep," Gimli grumbled, burying his face into Legolas's stomach, "which would be a hell of a lot easier if my pillow quit movin' about." He felt rather than heard Legolas's chuckle as he let his eyes slide closed. The long fingers in his hair carefully resumed their movement as he felt sleep slowly claim him, his senses filled with the warmth and scent of Legolas as he finally allowed himself to relax. 

.:|:.

Legolas carefully untangled himself from Gimli's sleeping form, making little soothing noises as the redhead stirred, thankfully not waking. He crouched down and gathered up his pencils and sketchbook, making as little noise as possible, and set them on the side table ("It's a barrel, Legs." "It can be a side table, too!") before padding out to the kitchen. He glanced at the clock and headed over toward the pantry, tying his hair into a loose bun to keep it out of his way. He grabbed his apron - a housewarming gift from Dori - and slipped it on as he mentally took inventory of what they had in their refrigerator. After a moment of thought, he turned back to the pantry and picked up a box of spaghetti. 

It wasn't the first time Gimli had come home with cut hands, nor was it the first time he'd come home and promptly fallen asleep. One time he had even come home and burst into infuriated tears as soon as the door had closed behind him. It worried Legolas, sometimes more than it should, but he could not stop Gimli from doing the work he loved so much. He knew the stress that came with retail work, and he could only be there to help Gimli when it all became too much. 

The water came to a boil and Legolas dumped the box of spaghetti into the pot before digging in the fridge for sauce. He set it on the counter and made a mental note to get more as he searched for another pot. Finally locating one, he poured the sauce in and set it on the stove. He stirred the pasta, absentmindedly singing to himself. The world faded away around him as he sunk into the comfortable, steady routine of cooking. There were no deadlines, no demanding commissioners, and no artist blocks in the kitchen. 

He jumped when he felt thick arms wrap around his waist, then smiled. Gimli nuzzled Legolas's neck and placed a little kiss on his jawline in greeting. His movements were slow, and he was warm with sleep. 

"I didn't mean to wake you," Legolas said softly, setting the spoon aside and turning to look at his boyfriend properly. 

"'S alright, laddie," Gimli murmured, his voice still a bit drowsy. "I got enough."

The timer dinged, and Legolas gently pushed Gimli off of him so he could strain the spaghetti. He could hear silverware clattering as the other man set the table. The pasta was divided up into two plates and he poured the sauce on. He took it over to the table - a tiny little thing that had been Aragorn's before he and Arwen had gotten married - and set it down before looking over at Gimli, only to see Gimli watching him with an adoring expression on his face. 

"Ye're so perfect," Gimli said, smiling a little. 

"Look who's talking," Legolas joked, but he obligingly went over and gave his sappy boyfriend a peck on the cheek. He glanced down, remembering the cut on Gimli's hand. "Come on, let's get that fixed up before we eat." 

He sent Gimli off to wash his hands and dug in the junk drawer for the box of bandaids. He snickered when he found it, and selected enough to cover the cut before joining Gimli in the bathroom. 

"I must not have been paying attention when I picked up the bandaids, love," he said, still chuckling to himself. "Though I'm sure these will heal your battle wound just fine." He dropped the Hello Kitty bandaids on the counter with a flourish, grinning widely at Gimli's deep belly laugh. 

"I'll be th' envy o' th' town, no doubt," he joked in return. Legolas knelt down to bandage him up, then tugged him down by the beard for a kiss, pressing their foreheads together gently. 

"There," he breathed. "All fixed." He stood and pulled Gimli out to their waiting food. As they ate, Legolas examined Gimli closely. He had relaxed, and the stress lines on his forehead had disappeared. His hair was still loose and mussed from when Legolas had taken it down earlier, and he no longer seemed quite so tired or beaten down. 

Legolas came back to the moment to find Gimli watching him again. "What is it?" he asked, but Gimli just smiled. He set his fork down and reached for Legolas's hand, caressing it gently with his thumb. Then he brought it to his lips and kissed each finger before turning it over to kiss the palm. Legolas found himself smiling, lost in the intimacy of the gesture. 

"I love ye," Gimli said, kissing Legolas's wrist, "so, so much." He kissed up his arm, then pulled the loose collar of his shirt down a little for access to his collar bone. 

Legolas sighed blissfully, weaving his hand into Gimli's curls. "The dishes..." he whispered in mild protest. 

"Th' dishes c'n wait," Gimli said, his accent thickening. He gazed up at Legolas, brown eyes meeting blue. "Jus' enjoy th' moment."

And with a kiss and a whispered prayer, Legolas did just that.

**Author's Note:**

> And then they did the do. 
> 
> I hope you liked it! If there's anything you want to see written, any fun prompts you find, or if you just want to say hi, you can shoot me a message at my Tumblr, Rina-san28.


End file.
